Leading Kids To Victory

Alternative School Will Offer A Second Chance

GLOUCESTER — Getting ready for the first day of school is always hectic. But this year, the task is more daunting than usual for Wayne Fox, Gloucester schools' director of student services.

Armed with a cell phone, Fox is going to all county classrooms this summer, making certain 650 computers are loaded with new attendance software and 125 of them with new grading software as well. The Pentamation software will save the county school system time and money, Fox says. All the information gathered will eventually go into the computer system in the office of George Bains, director of the Department of Information Technology for Gloucester.

"We're saving our teachers and clerical staff a great deal of time, and we'll be able to keep better track of students who are absent," Fox points out.

Teachers will be able to enter information directly, instead of filling out forms that are scanned by a computer, as they did in the past.

That means a savings of $3,000 a year on scan sheets alone, he says.

As if getting the computers ready were not enough, Fox also has been hard at work setting up the new Victory Academy, located off Route 17 on Chapman Drive.

The daytime alternative school has come about because of the success of the regional alternative school, started about four years ago. Gloucester High School is one of two sites for the regional school and also serves Middlesex and Mathews students.

"The first 2 1/2 years, it was for students in trouble," Fox says. Then, principals and teachers began to want to get children into the school before they had problems.

"We had a lot placed for nondiscipline reasons," he explains. "We had parents call and ask if their children could stay because they were making A's and B's there."

Because of the program's success, J. Larry Hoover, Gloucester school superintendent, appointed Fox to oversee development of a new daytime alternative non-disciplinary program for eighth and ninth graders who are two years or more behind in school. A task force designed the daytime off-campus program and the school board approved $198,000 for it.

Shirley Cooper was hired to serve as coordinator of Victory Academy, and a building on Chapman Drive that had multiple phone lines and computer hook-ups was selected from four possible sites.

"A lot of people have made it all come together," Fox says. "The main players have been Jim Camp, director of engineering services; Dave Robey, director of buildings and grounds; Steve Patton, director of food services; and Roger Kelly, director of transportation."

"Not one thing was purchased for this building," Fox says, proudly pointing to furniture, books and computers all procured from other school sites in the county.

When school opens, one teacher will work mornings in a downstairs classroom with 15 eighth-grade students. That teacher will cover math, English, science and social studies.

After lunch, three teachers will take the same students and work with them in small tutorial and remedial groups. Fox would like to line up some volunteers to aid in that part of the Victory Academy program.

Two teachers will have 15 ninth graders each, in two upstairs classrooms during the morning. After lunch, those students will be transported back to their school to take physical education, ROTC, strategies for success, agro-science or a technology class.

Victory Academy will have a special dress code, Fox says. Students will be required to wear a solid color blue, white or tan shirt and slacks or skirt - no jeans.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 different students each day will work in the facility's computer labs with an instructor, preparing to take GED tests.

"An awful lot of work was done in a short period of time," Fox says, smiling broadly. "In this building, it was all done since July 1."

He said Cooper has done "a wonderful job with the guidance counselors at Peasley, Page and the high school. They gave her recommendations of students who met the guidelines, and she called the parents and told them about the school."

Once a student is signed up for Victory Academy, he or she must stay at least one semester. Student progress is measured three times a year to determine how much each student is improving.

Fox explains that an individual plan will be designed for each student, with the parent, student, teacher and the coordinator working together.

A parent/teacher/student conference will take place at the end of each nine weeks, he says.

"I think this is going to be a model school," Fox says, his face glowing. "I anticipate this growing tremendously and expanding to include other age groups."

Even though the new school isn't open, he says, "We already have counselors begging to have seventh graders and 10th graders included."